Not Allowed
by OverlyCheerfulRat
Summary: Itachi meets the deformed boy next door and slowly falls in love. (In which Kabuto was born looking the way he does in sage mode, minus the torso snake, and Nonou kept him locked up most of his life.) Trigger warning for abuse.
1. Chapter 1

Her son was a freak. That was the truth, plain and simple-Nonou had given birth to a monster. She looked down at the infant squirming in her arms, only two months old. He stared up at her with wide, innocent eyes, but she couldn't look past the slit pupils and yellow irises. She had managed to conceal him thus far-only the midwife knew. She had cried that the baby was a demon and told Nonou to kill him, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. A few weeks after her son was born, she was washing him in a sink, staring at his tiny deformed body, when she suddenly remembered the midwife's advice. She pushed his head underwater and held him there, feeling nothing as he thrashed around. If her older son, Urushi, hadn't started crying from the other room, Kabuto would have died. Instead, Nonou snapped out of her trance and let go of him, furious at herself.

But now, she wasn't sure she had made the right choice. Kabuto had scaly, white skin and horns, and when Urushi first saw him, he screamed in terror. It didn't take much to scare a child, but still, Nonou knew what her friends would say. They wouldn't let their children anywhere near hers, even though Kabuto's birth defect wasn't contagious. People would talk. Her family would be ostracized. Urushi would always be the snake monster's older brother, and she would be the woman who gave birth to it. No, that wouldn't do. She wouldn't let Kabuto ruin her life-instead, she would raise him apart from everyone else, keeping him hidden from view so he couldn't embarrass her. The boy in her arms cooed and reached up to his mother, unaware that he would spend his life in solitude. Nonou moved his hand away, wincing at the texture of his scales, and set him in the crib she would soon move to the basement.

A/N: This has been the prologue. I'm trying something new here, so please tell me what you think and if you have any ideas.


	2. Chapter 2

Nonou hadn't been into the basement for two weeks. As soon as she descended the stairs, Kabuto ran over to her, holding out his pale arms or a hug. Nonou shoved him roughly to the side. "Don't touch me," she snarled. Her son's face fell, and he stepped away, fidgeting with his glasses-the only gift his mother had ever given him. She looked around, taking in the small mattress pressed against the wall, the books and flashlight placed neatly on the ground next to it, the tiny bathroom off to the side. There was one window in the basement, but she had boarded it up years ago. Finally, she turned to her younger son, who was staring at her hopefully, snake-like eyes wide behind his glasses. "Urushi had an idea," Nonou said coldly. Kabuto grinned at that and started to say something, then remembered the rules and pointed to his mouth. "You may talk when I'm done. He's going to take you outside today-only the backyard, and only for a few minutes." "Really?!" Nonou sighed. "Yes, Kabuto, really. You'll have to wear something with a hood, obviously."

Just then, Urushi poked his head through the basement door. "You ready, baby brother?" He called down the stairs. "Y-yeah!" Nonou muttered something under her breath and handed Kabuto a long red cloak, which he quickly put on, beaming. "Thank you! Th-thanks!" She just shook her head and gestured to the stairs, giving him permission to leave. Kabuto ran upstairs, taking Urushi's hand when he got there. Urushi smiled and led him to the back door. His younger brother's breath caught as they stepped outside, and he clung to his arm, looking around in delight. "You can let go," Urushi told him gently. Kabuto released his arm and stepped forward, looking around in unconcealed wonder. He stepped slowly onto the grass, giggling at how it felt under his bare feet.

As Kabuto was experiencing the outdoors for the first time in his nineteen years of life, Itachi Uchiha was coughing up blood in his kitchen. His parents were at work and Sasuke at school, but Itachi was homeschooled due to his poor health. Maybe fresh air will help, he thought without much conviction. The first thing he saw upon walking outside was a small figure clad in some kind of robe sitting in the Yakushi's backyard, turning a leaf over in his hands. Itachi frowned and walked over, mildly concerned by the strange scene. "Who are you?" The person jumped slightly, scrambled to their feet, and pulled the hood down, trembling. "Hey!" Urushi ran over to them and put a hand on Itachi's shoulder. "You should go," he muttered, glancing back at the house. "What's going-" Itachi was cut off by a hacking cough, and he bent over slighlty, covering his mouth with a handkerchief. "A-are you alr-right?"

Kabuto stared at the pretty boy coughing in front of him. He looked too fragile to be outside. "I'm fine," he muttered, meeting Kabuto's eyes and gasping. Urushi looked terrified, and Kabuto realized that he'd let go of his hood. The frail stranger could see him, but he didn't look disgusted or scared. Actually, he looked concerned. "Are you alright?" Itachi took in the other boy's strange appearance- he had scaly white skin, horns, and yellow eyes with slitted pupils. In addition to his reptilian attributes, he was tiny, short and unhealthily skinny. He looked like he might burst into tears at any moment, so Itachi held his hand out to shake. "My name is Itachi Uchiha. What's yours?"


	3. Chapter 3

Nonou stood in the living room doorway, glaring at the boy talking to her son on the couch. She knew it was a terrible idea to let him outside, she knew it, but Urushi convinced her. "Just once. Just as a special treat-it's his birthday tomorrow." She had argued against it for hours, but eventually agreed. Kabuto could go play in the backyard for ten minutes. And now, look what was happening. Their neighbor-the son of two very wealthy and influential lawyers-had met him. Not only that, they were having a full-on conversation! Soon he'd start wondering why he hadn't met Kabuto before, if he wasn't already. And then... what would her son say?

Itachi leaned forward, frowning. "You've never been to a doctor?" Kabuto shook his head, wondering what a doctor was, but knowing better than to ask. He didn't want this beautiful, frail boy to think him stupid. "Well, you need a check-up at the very least. I'd say you're well overdue-how old are you, anyway?" Kabuto looked at Urushi for help. He knew he was in his teens at least, but it was hard to keep track of time in a basement, and no one ever told him about holidays or his birthday. "He just turned nineteen," Urushi said for him. "Oh? When?" "Today, actually." Kabuto smiled. He'd never heard of a birthday before, but he could guess what it was from the name, and it was exciting to know exactly how old he was. Itachi gave him a piercing look. "You look much younger than that. Have you been eating properly?" "I think so...?"

The next afternoon found Kabuto sitting in the living room again, except this time, a pink-haired girl was standing over him with a kind smile. Apparently her name was Sakura, and she was an intern at the hospital where his mother worked. (He didn't know what a hospital was, but it presumably had something to do with taking care of people.) Nonou had said a real doctor wouldn't be able to come to their house, and she would have done it herself, but Sakura needed the practice if she was going to be a doctor one day. (In truth, she wouldn't be seen with Kabuto in public, and she hated to touch him.) Kabuto, for his part, was beyond ecstatic-in less than twenty-four hours, he had experienced more new things than he had in his entire life. "Alright, now can you breathe in for me? That's it... good."

The check-up was new and interesting, but there was one thing Kabuto didn't understand. Sakura kept putting her hand between his legs, playing with what she found there. No one else had touched him there before, but maybe that was normal? He didn't like it very much, and the looks she gave him were a little creepy, but he could trust Sakura. She was a doctor, or she would be when she was older. This was probably just... something that happened during check-ups. Except, when she had finished taking his temperature and vitals, she told him to take his clothes off. "Everything," she ordered when he stood awkwardly in his underwear. Kabuto did what she said-he wasn't allowed to question normal people, because they always knew better than him-but he didn't like the way Sakura's eyes roamed over his body. She looked... hungry, maybe, but that wasn't really it. All Kabuto knew for sure was that he breathed a little sigh of relief when she left.

A/N: Please tell me your thoughts and suggestions.


	4. Chapter 4

Kabuto adored Itachi. He had never met anyone outside of his family, and this kind new boy was so mature and gentle. Urushi had told him that, while extreme, Nonou's decision to keep him separate from others was a good one-he'd be bullied, mocked, maybe even feared if he went out into the world. But Itachi didn't mention his horns or scales, didn't laugh when he asked questions about the world. They saw each other every day, and Kabuto practically lived for those visits. Nonou had expressly forbidden him from mentioning anything about his "bedroom" to Itachi. "He wouldn't understand, and someone could take you away from me. You don't want that, do you? This is the only place you'll be safe, Kabuto. No one else will take care of you. You're too stupid to take care of yourself. This is all you have. I am all you have." "I know, Mother."

It was a Wednesday afternoon when Itachi found out where Kabuto had spent his life thus far. He'd been distant the whole time they were visiting, and Kabuto was terrified that Itachi didn't like him anymore, that he never had and was just coming over out of pity, that he'd done something horribly wrong or asked one too many stupid questions. "Wh-why are you upset?" Itachi looked over at him and blushed. "Well, I... last night, I wet the bed," he admitted softly, remembering the painful shame that had coursed through his body as he felt the damp sheets and realized what had happened. The horrible, insanely long walk to his parent's room. The pitying, disappointed look on his mother's face when he whispered what he'd done. After breakfast, he pulled his sheets from the washing machine and hung them out to dry, trying to hide the stain that was still obvious if you looked the right way. Sasuke noticed immediately-of course he did-but said nothing.

Somehow, it was even more humiliating during the day, and Kabuto's childish follow-up question didn't help: "Did you forget to go potty before bed?" Itachi stared blankly at him. "Did I... Kabuto, are you making fun of me?" "NO! I mean, n-no, I could never make fun of you! I was just wondering if you went potty before bed, because sometimes I wet the bed when I don't-" Itachi held up a hand to cut him off. "It's just that most people our age don't say 'potty'. It's a word for younger kids." Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "I didn't know that," he muttered. A trembling hand was placed on his shoulder, and Kabuto looked over at his friend. "It's fine, Kabuto. Use whatever words you like." Kabuto nodded, then shyly said, "You shouldn't be embarrassed about having an accident. I have a lot of accidents. It's not a big deal." He held his breath after confessing that, wondering what Itachi's response would be. He was trying to bond with the ill boy, but what if Itachi thought he was a baby?

"Well, that's not your fault. Plenty of people have continence issues." "What's continence?" "The ability to control your bladder. You have nothing to be asha-" Before he could finish, Kabuto shook his head frantically. "No, I can hold it! I'm not a baby. It's just, Mother makes me wait a really long time if I do something bad." Itachi frowned at him. "What do you mean by that? Denying someone basic needs like the toilet or food is abuse." "No, no, it's just punishment. Like, if I wet the bed, or forget to clean my room, or I'm rude, then Mother won't let me go potty for twenty-four hours." He was about to ask what was so special about twenty-four hours, but Itachi's horrified expression stopped him. He looked around to make sure Nonou wasn't in the room, then put a hand on Kabuto's wrist. "Does your mother hurt you?" "She spanks me when I have accidents or cry."

Itachi stared at him for a long, long moment. Then he stood up. "Kabuto, I think you should come home with me. It sounds like your mother is abusing you, and I want you to go somewhere safe until we can figure that out." The boy in question squirmed. "I have to ask her first. I'm not allowed outside." "What?!" "Mother doesn't want normal people to see me. You're my first friend," he added hopefully, looking up at Itachi. "Well-I-thank you, that means a lot, but you can't stay here Kabuto. I'm going to call social services, and until they can talk to your mother, I want you to stay with me."


	5. Chapter 5

Sasuke had always thought Itachi was invincible. When his brother got sick, he did his best to ignore the symptoms-labored breathing, coughing fits, weight loss, even fainting. But that morning, he had walked outside and seen his mature older brother standing on trembling legs, hanging up urine-stained sheets. Itachi saw him watching and shifted his body to hide the stain, his face turning red. Sasuke walked away without another word, not wanting to humiliate his brother any farther, but couldn't get the image out of his head. His mature big brother, blushing and trying to hide the evidence that he couldn't hold it through the night. Sure, Sasuke had noticed that Itachi went to the bathroom more frequently as of late, but he didn't think anything of it. The doctors warned them that the disease would slowly weaken Itachi's organs, but Sasuke had never expected him to have accidents. Would this become a regular occurrence? Would his seventeen-year-old brother have to wear diapers?

He'd been planning to ask Itachi about the accident when he got home from school, but that thought was wiped out of his head when he saw the boy sitting next to his brother on the couch. He was sobbing into Itachi's chest, shaking like a leaf. Itachi looked up and saw Sasuke, then waved him over and gently stroked the other boy's back. "Kabuto, my brother just got here. Do you want to say hi?" The boy, who Sasuke now noticed had horns and scales like a snake, clutched at Itachi's shirt and moaned like he was in physical pain. Itachi sighed and shook his head at Sasuke, motioning to the stairs, before hushing the smaller boy and petting his hair.

It had been Itachi's suggestion that they go somewhere. After leaving his mother's house through the front door, Kabuto stared around the street in open-mouthed wonder, revealing sharp canine teeth. "Would you like to go out and do something?" He jumped and looked at Itachi. "I'll m-make you look bad," Kabuto whispered, touching his glasses. "No, you won't. Come on, let's get some tea." So they walked away from Nonou's house and towards something Itachi called a "shopping center". Everything went to hell almost as soon as they walked in the door. Itachi held Kabuto's hand and put an arm around his shoulder to shield from the other customers shameless staring, then pointed to the menu and asked what he wanted. Kabuto squinted at the words-he could read, but only simple words in the picture books Urushi gave him. The strange, long words in bizarre fonts were gibberish to him. "I can't read it," he whispered guiltily. "It's okay. Do you like cookies?" Kabuto nodded shyly-Urushi had given him a cookie once, and he remembered how yummy it was. Itachi ordered their food as Kabuto half hid behind him.

"Is he wearing a costume or something?" The man behind the counter sounded disgusted. Itachi calmly shook his head. "No, he has a mild birth defect." "Mild?" Kabuto wrapped his arms around Itachi's slim waist, terrified. He had just started leaving the basement, and now he was in a cramped little building filled with drawings, people, and the overwhelming perfume of various hot drinks. Strangers were reacting to him the way his mother always said they would, and he wanted to run away. When their tea arrived, Kabuto hesitantly reached out and took his cup, accidently touching the man behind the counter in the process. Their fingertips had barely grazed, but the man pulled his hand back in abject horror. "Is that thing contagious?!" Kabuto whimpered and stepped closer to Itachi, tears welling up in his yellow eyes. "I wanna go," he whispered. Itachi quickly left, holding Kabuto as close as he could while still walking briskly, but he didn't walk quite fast enough. A little boy standing next to his grandmother threw his milk at Kabuto hitting him on the side of the head. "Monster!"


	6. Chapter 6

It had been several weeks since Kabuto had come to the Uchihs'a house. Itachi was trying to get him warmed up to the outside world after the tea debacle, and he thought the younger boy was finally ready to go out in public for an extended period of time. Kabuto refused to leave the house without a hood, and Itachi was so happy he was standing up for himself that he didn't say anything. Mikoto was going to drop them off at the grocery store. "I'm scared," Kabuto whispered. "Nothing will hurt you. Don't worry, okay?" When they got to the store, Mikoto helped her ill son out of the car, and Kabuto put Itachi's arm over his shoulder, supporting him the best he could.

No one noticed Kabuto's reptilian attributes due to his hood, but Itachi quickly realized they had other problems. He had to pee, and lately he could hardly hold it for ten minutes. "Kabuto," he said softly. The timid boy, who had been fascinated by the bottled water, jumped and looked up at him guiltily. "I'm sorry," he said automatically. "You haven't done anything wrong. I was just wondering if you'd seen a sign for the bathroom?" Kabuto shook his head. "I'm can't read much." "Right, right, I know... let's find an employee." By the time they found someone, Itachi was squirming in place, pressing his skinny legs together and biting his lip. She directed them to the restrooms, but they hadn't taken more than a few steps before Itachi gasped and bent over, grabbing himself through his pants.

At least five other customers saw Itachi have an accident, and Sakura was one of them. She didn't recognize the person holding him up, but she knew people would go wild if they saw Sasuke Uchiha's older brother shamefully pissing himself in a public place, so she pulled out her phone and caught the whole thing on camera. When he'd finished, his pants were soaked to below the knees and a small puddle had formed around his feet. Itachi choked up, looking down at his mess. "I... I am so..." The employee glared at him. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave," he stated coldly.

Outside the store, Itachi sat down on a bench and called Mikoto, ignoring the glances from strangers. Kabuto sat next to him and rubbed his back. "Um, Mom...? I need you to pick us up. No, he's okay. I had an accident..." The last part was confessed in a whisper, and Kabuto pulled Itachi closer to him. When Mikoto came to get them, she sighed at her son's soiled clothes and laid a towel on his seat. "Wait here for a minute," she ordered before jogging towards the store. Kabuto put a hand on Itachi's shoulder. "Not that many people saw, and nobody cares. I'm h-here if you need me." "Thanks, Kabuto. You're sweet." Mikoto returned then, clutching a plastic bag in her hand. She tossed it onto the passenger seat before driving away.

Sasuke answered the door when they returned home. He looked at his brother's pants and turned away, crossing his arms. He knew it was stupid, but he felt betrayed. Mikoto held Itachi close to herself and helped him walk to the bathroom, where she set him on the toilet as she ran a bath. "I... do it... self..." Itachi whispered, struggling to speak. He'd noticed that his lungs got worse when he was upset, making it harder for him to breath or do things on his own. Mikoto had clearly picked up on this as well, because she shook her head and began to undress him. Meanwhile, in the living room, Kabuto and Sasuke were sitting next to each other on the couch. "He's not always like this, you know," Sasuke assured their house guest. "Itachi used to be... in control, until he got sick." Kabuto frowned. "Itachi has a cold?" "No, I mean really sick. Like... terminally sick." Kabuto nodded like he knew what that meant. If Itachi was sick, he'd draw him a picture! That was what friends did when one of them was sick.


End file.
